Mauritania and Its Sea: Could Offshore Oil Exploitation Help Better Manage Ecological Insecurity?

Résumé 0

Over centuries Mauritanian societies have turned their backs to the sea until independence and, later, drought created incentives for the State and national actors to take an interest in sea resources. Whether at sea or on the mainland the relationship to the territory’s resources appeared to be entrusted to the same rentier State who was more interested in exercising control on flows rather than in management, production or transformation. However, regarding the fisheries industry and the issue of its preservation the Mauritanian state has progressively increased its intervention capacities. The extraordinary ecological and economic value of Mauritanian waters – with the “banc d’Arguin” as their most famous ecosystem – certainly played a role in this evolution. The recent exploitation of offshore oil resources has reinforced the need to increase the overall capacity to regulate all aspects of the maritime area (conservation, fisheries, transport and oil and gas). The emergence of oil and gas activities re-emphasises the difficulties faced by a dependent State when trying to appropriate and manage a territory whose resources attract the attention of powerful international stakeholders.